Hot 'N' Cold

Just because this band are VERY awesome!

AVA Lyrics

"Watch our words spread hope like fire" - Secret Crowds

"Would you ever have known? Those words were for you" - Distraction

"I do this from time to time
Where I can never wake from a bad dream
I do this from time to time
When I can never say the things I mean
I do this from time to time
Where I like to watch you as you sleep
I do this from time to time
Where I like to think of you with me" - Sirens

Do you feel like you've lost everything you can loose...

I can't begin to explain how this band (Angels & Airwaves) and this song helped me through some rough times last year. This band literally changed my life, and as corny and cliche as it sounds it's 100% true. I'm hoping they can do the same now.

I sing your praises everytime the curtain calls...

You're Not Alone

pop punk to the rescue

It's amazing how one band can make music that seems like it was made just for you, just for how you are feeling at a low point. Home Grown have certainly made an album that just talks to me at the moment. It says everything I want to say but can't. I could listen to the album, "King Of Pop", back to back and in every song there would be lyrics that I can relate to. The glory of pop punk is it is filled with teen angst, stories of rejection, stories of love lost and stories of love gained. I don't think any other genre really encapsulates that feeling of being a teenager that no one really understands. Thank you Home Grown for writing possibly one of my favourite albums ever and filling it with stories I can relate to in a time of need and reminding me that I am not alone.

The story of a broken man

I don't think I've ever felt like this before. So down, so defeated and so broken. It's a strange feeling when the light that guided you through a tough time, even more so when that tough time was merely weeks ago, goes out and you are left stranded in the dark. I cannot begin to explain how lost I feel, so unsure and so insecure. And to make matters worse the only thing that previously offered me escape is now simply a channel for all the negativity I feel. I'm struggling to find the words to describe just how I feel. The only word that comes close is numb.

"Good morning heartache, you're like an old friend come to see me again"

I found this at it made me chuckle

Tom RDD's Summer Playlist

I do it every year, I make a playlist of songs that I intend to listen to (rather a lot) during summer and by the end of it more and more songs get piled on. The idea being that when I listen to that song after summer I will always remember what memory it brings. For example one of the songs I listened to most last summer was Frank Turner's "The Road". It reminds me of going camping and having an amazing time. So here is my playlist so far:

The Maccabees - Good Old Bill
Vampire Weekend - Ottoman
The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way
The Maccabees - About Your Dress
The Vaudeville - Heavy Sighs
The Wombats - Kill The Director
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun
Toots & The Maytals - Just Tell Me
The Stingers - Give Me Power
Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop
Lightyear - A Pack Of Dogs
Second Time Lucky - Outta My Head
Dance Hall Crashers - Lady Luck
[Spunge] - Kicking Pigeons
The Meow Meows - Ravioli Lips
Big D and The Kids Table - Shining On
Mustard Plug - Who Benefits?
Dance Hall Crashers - Go
[Spunge] - Backstabber
Mad Caddies - Drinking For 11
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Rascal King
Big D and The Kids Table - Steady Riot
Streetlight Manifesto - Hell
Mad Caddies - Don't Go
Mustard Plug - Everything Girl
Noah & The Whale - 5 Years Time
Pickin' On Series - New Slang
Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More




Peace.Love.Respect.Unity

-- Tom RDD

Give me power

"Talent, Integrity and self-loathing. The three things every artist needs" -- Laura Marling

I Speak Because I Can

I got this album through the door today. It came right before I was about to venture off on a 5 hour journey from my home town of Burgess Hill (just outside Brighton) to Worcester. I spent the first leg of my journey frantically trying to put the CD onto my laptop and onto my ipod without my laptop battery dying (it has a tendency to do that). I was then lost in a different world for 10 superb tracks. The album is incredible. Musically it is outstanding, lyrically it is incredible. Stand out tracks include the title track, I Speak Because I Can, Devil's Spoke, Blackberry Stone, Hope In The Air, What He Wrote in fact there is not a weak track on the album. It is an incredible journey from start to finish. I was left wanting only more. When I finally finished my own journey back to Worcester I managed to watch the accompanying DVD which gives an insight into Laura's "friends" which include Mumford & Sons, Johnny Flynn, Pete Roe, Sons Of Noel & Adrian and many others. The DVD features live videos from the Royal Festival Hall show and shows the friendship and respect amongst the UK "folk scene". A great DVD and an incredible album.

Peace.Love.Respect.Unity

-- Tom RDD

Perfect summer music

Here's 4 tracks to get you in that spring/ summer mood. Get your dancing shoes on and enjoy!














Peace.Love.Respect.Unity

-- Tom RDD

Kiss Me, Diss Me

A great song from Home Grown's album "Kings Of Pop". Enjoy.

Don't be afraid to make this mistake...

My favourite pop punk album ever made.



True story.

Peace. Love. Respect. Unity

-- Tom RDD

Sometimes I Just Want To Disappear

I find music is one of the best ways to escape. Sometimes when I feel down I find it so easy to loose myself within acoustic/ folk music, I'm not sure why. The most obvious reasons are the calming lyrics, the incredible melodies and the feeling that you're not alone and that someone else out there has felt the same as you and has put those feelings into song to help you to deal with it. Here are three songs that have helped me escape lately. Enjoy.









Peace. Love. Respect. Unity.

-- Tom RDD

A lonely Tuesday morning playlist...

The Avett Brothers - Murder In The City, November Blue, The weight Of Lies
Pickin' On Series - New Slang
The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun
Tom Landa and The Paper Boys - Goodbye
Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds
Johnny Flynn - The Wrote And The Writ
City And Colour - Sleeping Sickness
Less Than Jake - Look What Happened
Mad Caddies - Don't Go
Yellowcard - Breathing
+44 - No, It Isn't
Frou Frou - Let Go

Just wow. What an album. Check these guys out.

I like Greek Mythology and I don't care who knows!

It's a sunny bank holiday Monday and I've spent it down in Brighton town. Sunny, warm and crammed with tourists who all seem to share the same goal. Walk very very slowly in front of me causing my patience to wear thin. But aside from all the tourists walking at a pace where most pensioners would find slow it has been a good day. It's been a few months since I last went to Brighton and almost a year since I could walk down the North Lanes without freezing my balls off or ducking for cover from the rain. Whenever I walk down the North Lanes it always feels like I'm meeting up with an old friend. That knowledge that it'll always be there and be almost the same as I remember but new and exciting things have been thrown in for good measure.

After a few hours walking around the city the decision is made to see the latest Greek mythology blockbuster, "Clash Of The Titans". To say I've been looking forward to it is an understatement. I love mythology, it's always captured my imagination and interested me being the absolute geek I am. So after paying the steep price of seven British pounds (as if I costs almost £4 extra to see a film in 3D! I get the chance to see it. To be honest I was disappointed. Maybe it was because I hyped up in my head so much that it just didn't meet expectations but even so it was just too damn short! I wanted more! And I felt cheated with the very quick, blunt and anti-climactic ending (that's what she said! sorry couldn't resist) To be honest I would have preferred a 3 hour epic over a an hour and a half of rushed story with the plot following a predictable story. I would have also liked to have seen a lot more of the Greek gods. There was the obvious Zeus and Hades but hardly more than a mention of Poseidon and Apollo not the mention the many other God's the Greeks prayed to. So yeah, I am a disappointed geek. Bad times.



Peace. Love. Respect. Unity

-- Tom RDD

Easter Sunday Playlist...

Happy Easter (if you celebrate that kind of thing, if not happy Sunday!)


Mumford & Sons - Sister
The Maccabees - Good Old Bill
Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way
The Wombats - Kill The Director
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Pigeon Detectives - Take Her Back
The Vaudeville - Heavy Sighs
The Zutons - Valerie
Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Once More With Feeling
Band Of Horses - Is There A Ghost
Gogol Bordello - Ultimate
Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
New Found Glory - Dressed To Kill
[Spunge] - Ego
Noah & The Whale - 5 Years Time

Tom RDD's Music suggestion:

Right, I think I said I was going to start doing this weekly but that obviously hasn't happened. However, I will occasionally put a band out there that I think you (yes, you!) should check out. This time around it's a band that I've only come to know because they are playing the Reading Festival. When the line up was announced there were a few bands on the Sunday I didn't recognise and I just so happened to find an album by the band "Band Of Horses" on my computer back home. So I've given it a listen and it's a really great album. So this week the band I think you should check out is, obviously, Band Of Horses. Below is a video of one of my favourite tracks on the album. Hope you enjoy.

Liar & Sister

Two beautiful songs by Mumford & Sons that don't feature on the "Sigh No More" album. Although I've had them in my itunes for a while, I've recently listened to them both a fair bit and I loose myself for a moment. Enjoy





Peace, Love, Respect, Unity

-- Tom RDD

I miss my guitar. She isn't the best guitar in the world. I bought it second hand and on the day I got it I had to replace 3 strings. She's old, she hasn't got the best sound but she is mine. I'm not going to lie and say I'm an amazing guitarist, I wouldn't even go as far as say I'm a good guitarist. I get by and I enjoy what I play and I am still learning. But I miss being able to escape from my mind and play music for hours, being completely oblivious to time, hunger, thirst and all that jazz. I can really loose myself is music and creating it is one of my main passions in life, if not my biggest passion. Writing lyrics is where my main skill lies within music (I say this with no wish to sound arrogant, it just happens to be true, at least I think it is). I love to write lyrics that mean something be they heart felt love songs, moments of heart break, songs of apathy and depression, songs about life and death or even political rants. Although this longing to create music has only resurfaced since Christmas time I feel slightly lost without a means to express myself. Playing music has really helped me over the last few weeks and months and although it's only been a few days I can start to feel withdrawal symptoms, if that's even possible...



Peace, Love, Respect, Unity

-- Tom RDD

April Fools Playlist...

Lady Gaga .... haha as If I would ever willinging listen to Lady Gaga. But seriously...


The Vaudeville (an awesome local band I discovered last night) - Coco, Author, Heavy Sighs
The Maccabees - Good Old Bill
The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun
Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
Johnny Flynn & Marcus Mumford - The Water (live)
Mumford & Sons - Liar, Sister
Laura Marling - The Wrote & The Writ
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A Changin'
Tammany Hall NYC - Cindy
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told
Bon Iver - Flume
Rancid - Last One To Die (acoustic)